Lance Logic Review

Written by: David Laprad Published: June 30, 2005 The first time I played Fatman Adventures, I could tell the developers, Another Day, loved making games. Everything about the offering, however small in scope, seemed to have burst forth from a wellspring of creativity and passion. Another Day continues this tradition with Lance Logic, a puzzle game that plays well and is so delightfully animated, you'll find yourself wishing all brain-teasers looked as good. Lance Logic doesn't throw random puzzles at you for no discernible reason; rather, it gives you a noble quest to complete. You play as Sir Lancelot, a valiant knight who sets out to rescue a beautiful maiden from an evil wizard. Instead of leaving a trail of murderous minions in his wake, however, the dark sorcerer has strung together a chain of puzzles intended to keep you from reaching your goal. This means you'll need to sharpen your intellect rather than your sword, and put on the full armor of your mental powers. To solve a puzzle, you must unite the lock and key icons. Blocking the way is an array of walls and colored blocks, the latter of which you can move with your mouse. When two or more blocks of the same color end up next to each other, they disappear. Depending on the puzzle, this can either help or hinder you. The law of gravity applies in Lance Logic, so you must carefully consider how moving one block will affect the others around it. Additional objects include bombs, powder kegs, elevators and pulleys. Bombs and powder kegs blow up when dropped and can destroy clusters of blocks. Elevators allow you to transport items up or down. Pulleys consist of two scales on either end of a rope, allowing you to raise one end by placing an item on the other, or keep one end from being lowered by placing an object under it. A restart button is available should you mess up, and you can view animated solutions on the Lance Logic website if you're unable to solve a puzzle. Another Day uses these basic elements to generate a wonderfully diverse set of puzzles. The difficulty level is perfect for casual players and kids; not all of the levels are easy, but neither are any of them so difficult you'll be forced to view the solutions for more puzzles than you solve. Once again, Another Day has created a game brimming with gorgeous hand drawn art. Charming details are everywhere, from the puffs of smoke that rise up when you scoot an object across stone to the steady breathing of Sir Lancelot and his faithful steed as they nap while you solve a puzzle. Because everything looks so good, it would've been nice if the developers had used more than one graphics theme; the stone gate surrounding each puzzle wears thin after awhile. That's a small gripe, though. One of the best moments in Lance Logic comes when you exit the program. Since I don't want to ruin the surprise, suffice to say it's evident Another Day wants to leave you smiling. I wager you'll be grinning from ear to ear after playing this enchanting puzzle game.